Bargain Bytes 2
Reviews Summary Popular Computing Weekly Issue 13 Writer: Brendon Gore Bargain Bytes Cassette Two is a follow up to Richard Shepherd's Bargain Bytes Cassette One. Cassette Two contains eight programs of a games and/or educational nature. Seafaring Adventure, which takes three minutes to load, is a standard adventure game. Set in the Mediterranean of the 19th century. you find yourself as a Royal Navy Officer in charge of a ship. You start as a Lieutenant in charge of a frigate. You have a crew of 100, food and water for 29 days and 10 tons of ammunition. Your objective is to sink as many enemy ships as you can while out on patrol. But, you must retain sufficient supplies and crew to return to port. This is where the program becomes difficult. You can only return to port when there are no enemy ships in sight. So, you may want to return to port after 10 days on patrol, but you may not be able to start your return for another five days. There are a number of hazards to be faced when trying to reach port. Some of your food may go bad your ammunition may become unusable and some of your crew may die of disease. If you succeed in returning to port, and have sunk a reasonable number of enemy ships, you will be promoted and given command of a larger ship. To win the game, you must attain the rank of First Sea Lord. Other games on the cassette include Noughts And Crosses, Jackpot Fruit Machine, Ski Run and Stock Market. The Stock Market game will appeal to all budding entrepreneurs. You start with £10,000 and the option of buying shares in a number of different companies. The shares change in value according to the state of the market and current events affecting trade. However, Stock Market begins to pall after a while, unless you are fascinated by shares and the stock market. It also takes rather too long to set up new market conditions, which leaves you facing a blank screen until the ZX81 is ready for the next round of wheeling and dealing. The best of the other programs on the cassette is undoubtedly General Knowledge Quiz. There are three levels of difficulty and a range of questions in each level. You are given three possible answers to each question and asked to decide which one is correct. The only real criticism I would make of this program is that it sometimes includes the same question twice in one round. A novel feature of this cassette is a short test program at the beginning of side one. Before attempting to load any of the other programs, you can use the test program to check that the volume and tone levels of your tape recorder are set correctly. Simply load "test" and wait 25 seconds. If Program OK appears on the screen, you can load the other programs with confidence. If "Program OK" does not appear on the screen, adjust the volume and tone levels and try again. Summary A cassette of interesting, well documented programs, that is competitively priced at £5. Features Minor Features *Your Computer Issue 12 - (July 1982) - News: Bargain Bytes back - page 17 *C+VG Issue 10 - (August 1982) - News: Win your fortune on the high seas - page 14 *Personal Computing Today Vol.1 No.1 - (August 1982) - News: Some softspots - page 8 Category:ZX81 Games Category:Richard Shepherd Software Category:Popular Computing Weekly Reviews